


Tame These Lions

by Inu_Sama



Series: NARUTO FICS [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Smart Uzumaki Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-06-10 06:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15285990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inu_Sama/pseuds/Inu_Sama
Summary: Now that got the Kyuubi's attention. Just how desperate was this kid? Nobody, not even the 'Hot-red Harabeno' had offered something like that. She'd never spoken to him. Period. But this kid…





	1. Chapter 1

For as long as Naruto could remember, he’d been hated. He never knew why, until this very moment. The village as a whole had come to the consensus that Naruto was the gum stuck to their shoe, a filthy, evil disease they had to protect their children from. It hurt so _so_ much, it wasn’t _fair_ \--but then he’d met Iruka-Sensei and things felt like they were getting better.

He could withstand the raised prices, the spit and curses, even the vandalism, if it meant he had _one_ person in his corner. He took a shaky breath. It turned out to be his cruelest punishment yet. Mizuki-Sensei grinned, triumphant at the look on his face.

“Could you blame him? Having to see the _demon_ that _destroyed_ his home and _slaughtered_ his loved ones, day in and day out?” Mizuki-Sensei loomed closer, the chakra flowing through his shoes the only reason he hadn’t fallen from the tree branch in his glee.

“To teach that _monster--_ ”

“ _Stop it!_ ” Iruka-Sensei yelled, struggling to sit up. With blood on his lips and hands clenched to the hole in his chest, Iruka-Sensei stared at Naruto as if he could communicate his feelings through eye contact alone.

“Naruto, he’s lying! You’re not the Kyuubi! You’re not a _monster_!”

But it fell on deaf ears as Naruto kept his attention focussed on the man in front of him. Because he _was_ a monster, he _was_ the kyuubi--or at the very least the two were so intertwined it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended. He could see that now. He finally knew what that darkness lurking in the deepest parts of his mind was. Naruto felt the seal on his stomach heat as he reached toward it now, that darkness. It was high time he accepted it.

He watched Mizuki-Sensei practically vibrating with satisfaction at his apparent success. Naruto didn’t know if trying to turn the Jinchuuriki... _him_ against the village was a secondary mission to getting the scroll, or if it was just a bonus. Either way, he was torn between wanting to thank the man and kill him. A deep rumble echoed in his mindscape, the beast finally waking from his slumber.

Naruto turned half his attention inward, coming into his mindscape with an ease he hadn’t expected. He’d never been here before, of course, he was just running on pure instinct. Naruto was a bit miffed about it being a _sewer_ of all things. He wasn't _that_ dirty minded!

He walked the maze-like halls of his mind until he came across a large room with nothing in it except for a large cage, the bars the width of his entire body and a meter apart. He could easily slip in there… A large glowing red eye peered out of the darkness curiously.

 **“** **_You_ ** **called? Where is the red one? My container, the Uzumaki?”** The beast questioned suspiciously, unaware of the tears glistening in Naruto’s eyes. So it was true then...the Kyuubi was inside of him.

‘ _The red one_ ’ he’d said...Was there _more_ he didn’t know? He could feel frustration well up inside him, raising the water under his feet until it was knee-deep. Why was everyone always keeping things from him?!

He sniffed, choosing to look at his hands instead of the creature in front of him.

“I-I don’t know who your last container was--but I’m Naruto Uzumaki--” He broke off as the strain of the night’s events caught up to him and he couldn’t stop the tears. He didn’t know why he was acting so vulnerable in front of the Kyuubi, the monster that had almost completely destroyed his village and--presumably--killed his parents, the reason why the villagers treated him like he wasn’t even human.

Naruto angrily rubbed an arm over his cheeks, willing his breathing to calm down.

“I know you don’t know me, I don’t know you either, but…” Naruto bit his lip, willing it to stop shaking as he bravely stared into those red eyes that were now completely focussed on him.

“We could help each other.”

He didn’t know what he was doing, or how he could possibly help the Kyuubi, short of just releasing it from its prison. But that could get a lot of people killed and then everyone would have a reason to hate him. The sewers shook slightly at the mighty beast got to his feet, coming as close to the bars as he could without the chakra zapping him.

 **"And what would I possibly need from a** **_child_ ** **?"** He asked, a hint of indignation coating the deep voice. Naruto shivered, resisting the urge to take a step back. But he’d decided to accept the kyuubi, hadn't he? He took a fortifying breath and studied the giant fox.

“I know I don’t look like much,” He gave a self-deprecating laugh before starting again. “I’m guessing you don’t want to be here…" Naruto took a quick look at the bars separating them. He knew from experience how valuable the concept of 'freedom' was.

"if you help me I can set you free."

Now _that_ got the Kyuubi's attention. Just how desperate _was_ this kid? Nobody, not even the 'Hot-red Harabeno' had offered something like that. She'd never spoken to him. Period. But this kid…

**"Fine. What do I have to do?"**


	2. Chapter 2

**"Fine. What do I have to do?"** He would see where this little arrangement took him. He had his doubts about the child being able to 'free' him, as he'd put it. But it was more interesting than sitting in the dark.

"W-What?! Really?!" Naruto couldn't believe it! The Kyuubi was going to help him! He felt a giddy laugh escape him. 

"This is amazing! Thank you!" But then something occurred to him and he frowned, looking up at the giant red fox, who was watching him with an odd expression he couldn't decipher.

"What's your name, by the way? I refuse to believe it's really 'The Kyuubi No Kitsune' because that's just silly!" He said, walking right up to the gate and peering curiously into the darkness around the Kyuubi. 

He was unperturbed by the clawed hand that reached for him, because he somehow knew he was safe. He was right, the Kyuubi's paw was burned by the chakra infusing the bars of the gate. He pulled it back and clutched it to his massive chest, glaring at the bars.

**"Kurama."** The Fox reluctantly divulged, eyeing the strange child with a mixture of irritation and awe. The boy had balls of steel, he could give him that. No one else, had ever,  _ ever _ , asked for his name and they  _ never  _ approached his cage. He was out of his depth and he didn't like it.

"And what do you do in here all day? It seems incredibly boring to be stuck in the dark all the time." Naruto hummed before his eyes widened as another thought came into his head and he grinned, clapping his hands together. 

"Oh! I'm a genius!" Naruto closed his eyes, remembering the Jutsu the Forbidden Scroll talked about and grinned. 

" _Kokoro no kyūden_ _Jutsu!_ " He shouted, sending ripples of chakra throughout his mindscape as he kept a clear image of what he wanted. If he practised it, soon he wouldn't need to even think the words before doing what he wanted to his mindscape.

He opened his eyes when he heard a shrill cry of surprise to see the great fox demon flat out on his belly with his paws over his eyes. 

_ 'Oh, he's probably not used to the light…' _ Naruto thought as he looked out over the sunny meadow he created. He looked back over to the fox when he felt eyes on him. 

**"What did you do, brat?! What the hell is this?!"** the fox stood, warily eyeing the buzzing bees chasing the flowers around his feet and the hot feeling of sunlight on his back. 

It had been so long since he'd felt sunlight that it, coupled with all the smells and the feeling of actual flora under his paws was severely overwhelming.

Naruto grinned. "It's amazing right?! I just altered the way my mindscape works using a jutsu I found in the Forbidden Scroll!" 

Kurama huffed, reluctantly impressed as he turned his great head to look at the trees surrounding the meadow. He felt rather than heard something metallic clang and he looked down to see that he had a collar on, a thick chain leading down into the soft earth beneath him. 

Kurama scowled. He looked up to see the brat was frowning too. 

"It looks like that's the representation of the Seal keeping you in me." He offered, shrugging apologetically. 

"I can't do anything about that yet, sorry." Privately, Naruto was kind of glad there was still  _ something  _ chaining the fox in this new environment he'd created, if only for his peace of mind. 

He cocked his head to the side when he felt things changing in the real world and bowed to the demon fox.

"Sorry, but I have to go back now, Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu." And with that, Naruto was gone, back to the real world and leaving a stunned demon fox behind. 

He opened his eyes to see that Iruka-Sensei was trying to tug him out of the way as Mizuki launched at him from his spot in the tree. 

"Just give me the Scroll Naruto!" The man snarled, features twisted into a hateful expression. If he hadn't dealt with that kind of expression most of his life, Naruto might have found it intimidating. But as it was...

Naruto grinned when he felt the power of the  _ Kyuubi no Kitsune _ strengthening his muscles and mixing with his own chakra. He met the attack head-on, redirecting the traitor's weight with a hand on his back to slam him into the ground. 

Mizuki gasped and coughed up blood, unable to reconcile with the thought that a twelve year-old managed to drop him so expertly.  Naruto used that distraction to drag a shocked Iruka-Sensei over to a nearby tree, somewhere out of the way of the impending fight. 

"Naruto, wha...where did you learn that? I don't remember teaching the class that move." Naruto only smiled, keeping one eye on his enemy while he pushed the henged Scroll into his Sensei's hands, in the form of a kunai.

"Hold onto this for me, will ya? I gotta go beat the shit out of someone." He turned to Mizuki just as Iruka-Sensei admonished him for his language, only to find the man already on his feet and glaring at him.

"Fwaa so scary!" Naruto deadpanned and delighted in the 'fuck you!' he got in return. Mizuki was swaying on his feet, but his infuriated gaze never left him. Good. That meant he could focus on this fight without having to protect Iruka-Sensei. 

Naruto dropped into the fighting stance he'd created when everyone refused to teach him the Academy one. It looked more like the Inuzuka Clan's fighting style, with his body parallel to the ground as he crouched on all fours.

"Wow, you really are an animal, aren't you? What the fuck kind of fighting style is that?" Mizuki laughed, but because he was too angry, it came out distorted and ugly. 

Naruto chose to remain silent, instead using the time to plant his chakra into the ground, forming mini landmines around Mizuki. If the bastard took one step, BOOM! 

He wanted to laugh because for a Chunin, Mizuki was pretty stupid if he thought he could take on Naruto and win. But that would ruin the moment, make Mizuki raise his guard and he didn't want that. He wanted Mizuki to fall into his trap. 

"Why don't you come 'ere and show me how it's done, then?" He taunted, grin wide and full of teeth.


End file.
